Ai Weiwei: ‘Beijing is a Nightmare’

Ai Weiwei, China’s most famous contemporary artist and most recognizable dissident, has made the boldest violation yet of his unofficial parole agreement by penning a searing critique of life in the Chinese capital for a U.S. magazine.

Mr. Ai was released in late June after 81 days in detention on condition — he and his friends say – that he did not use Twitter and other forms of social media, did not meet foreigners, and did not talk to the media for at least a year.

He began violating that agreement about a month ago, first opening an account on Google+, then resuming his criticism of the government on Twitter, and giving details through friends of his detention in a secret facility with two guards by his side at all times.

Now, by authoring a highly critical piece in Newsweek magazine, he has taken things to a new level in what appears to be a direct challenge to the powerful security services who many Chinese and foreign analysts believe were behind his original detention.

“Beijing is two cities,” he writes. “One is of power and of money. People don’t care who their neighbors are; they don’t trust you. The other city is one of desperation. I see people on public buses, and I see their eyes, and I see they hold no hope.”

He describes a city increasingly divided between the migrant “slaves” who work on construction sites, and the many government officials, “coal bosses” and state company chieftains who come to the capital to bribe their overseers with gifts.

He also suggests that many other people had been illegally detained, like him, in undisclosed locations without their families being informed, and with no protection from a judiciary that is entirely controlled by the Communist Party.

“My ordeal made me understand that on this fabric, there are many hidden spots where they put people without identity. With no name, just a number,” he says.

The artist best known in the West for helping to design the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Olympics and then famously repudiating it as a “fake smile” designed to fool the world about China, also takes another swipe at the iconic work: “I never think about it. After the Olympics, the common folks don’t talk about it because the Olympics did not bring joy to the people.”

Mr. Ai was detained at Beijing’s airport on April 3 amid a sweeping crackdown on political activists that was apparently prompted by anonymous online calls for a “Jasmine Revolution” in China following uprisings in the Arab world.

He was released on June 22 after an international outcry, but human activists say many other dissidents face similar extra-judicial treatment at the hand of a domestic security apparatus whose power and political influence has expanded rapidly in recent years.

Many rights groups fear that security forces may soon be granted the legal powers to detain people at undisclosed locations without informing relatives under proposed reforms to the Criminal Procedure Law described in a state-run newspaper last week.

Chinese authorities say Mr. Ai was released because he was sick and had admitted to economic crimes including tax evasion. They have demanded almost $2 million in unpaid taxes and fines. His family deny the accusations, saying his detention was politically motivated.

He concludes with his most emotional description yet of what it was like to be incarcerated with no legal protection, no family contact and no idea of when he would be released.

“You’re in total isolation. And you don’t know how long you’re going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There’s no way to even question it. You’re not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad,” he says.

“Cities really are mental conditions,” he says in conclusion. “Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.”

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